Epic Camp Fails - Learn from our Mistakes...
Our favourite camping stuff ups
Now to be fair, a lot of this list are funny trips to look back on and even at the time there was a funny side in each situation. We always look on the bright side and hey, if you stay at home on the couch you won’t risk any of these things but you also won’t see half of the amazing things this stunning country has to offer. So plan well and choose trips and terrain that you know you can handle. Other than that, our advice? Pack wine… Lots of wine
That time we went camping without food… Yep it happened. We have pretty well set up rigs and we have often chatted about how long we could survive in the bush just off the dry/tinned food that live in our cars... Yep, because we go so often our rigs are always ready to go… apart from that one time. It’s always best to double check you have everything before you leave even if you are a seasoned camper. In fact I think it is because we are seasoned campers that overconfidence has been our undoing on occasion. There were beers though…. We shared a tin of spaghetti between four people and had to wait for friends to bring supplies in the morning, we still can't actually believe that happened.
That time we arrived at camp at midnight and managed to get bogged... Not just run of the mill bogged, but almost trip-ending-car-funeral type bogged and it took until 5am to get out of it. Now if we had left a little earlier or even got in at the same time and just pulled up somewhere safe and looked for the perfect camp spot in the morning then this could have been avoided…
That time we took our foster dog Lucky camping as his first off road experience…Pretty much the second we left the asphalt, Lucky had terrible car sickness. We test all our fosters now on a bumpy track before venturing off for a weekend. If you don’t foster or know your dog is great off road then you won’t have this problem... Poor Lucky, we had to put on his foster report that he was more of a city slicker than a bush pup…
That time Jana forgot all her bedding... Again, this is the result of being over confident that you have everything. Sometimes it seems like a lot of effort to unroll the swag to check if you put everything back after the last clean out. Jana can attest to this after a cold night sleeping in all her clothes and using other clothes as a pillow...
That time it rained the whole Easter weekend... Look, weather happens and we think it was Billie Connelly that said 'there is no such thing as bad weather, there is just bad clothing....' or something. He was right of course, and if you are prepared tarps, and good wet weather gear can get you through just about anything. However being based in WA we are spoiled with weather and when we read rain in the forecast there is little chance that it will settle in for the whole weekend.... until of course that time that it did. The camp was a wash out, the swags waterproofing was tested to it's limits and there wasn't a dry seat in the house. There was however, mulled wine, hot whiskey, delicious camp oven food and hot coffee. We'd rather be wet in the bush with mates than at home any day!
That time the camp oven got ash in it... I see you reading that and thinking "yeah and..." when you have been cooking all afternoon for a hungry 20+ camp group and the meal is all but ruined by a sudden and unexpected jolt of the camp oven lid, just as you are lifting it to check the progress its devastating. We scraped off what we could and rummaged around for some jaffle makings and cried a little as the dogs had a feast of their lives.
That time the Prado went for a mud bath... Yep when Harry from Fire to Fork chooses to go around, its wise to follow. Do you know what we love? A good old chicken track. AKA the sensible track. The track you take that isn't going to end in an hour+ delay and a very soggy interior. We love the sensible track (usually the boys, not so much), be one with the sensible track!
That time that Jana & Shane rolled the 60s series... It had to come up, it wasn't one of our finer moments. Crawling up quite the rugged incline we decided we didn't have enough speed to make it to the top. Rolling back down at snails pace preparing to give it another go, the back right wheel went up over a rock and our poor, beloved, top heavy 60 tipped slow motion onto its side/roof into a ditch. Honestly time stood still, it was the slowest roll over in recorded history and a great reminder about knowing exactly what is behind you. Although the 60 made it back to Perth under her own steam, the damage was fatal and our poor old girl called it a day.... we still miss her.
The time Harry & Sam got bogged in a crocodile infested flood plane during a rising tide... Probably the most precarious 4wd'ing moment Sam has ever been in, and fortunately a near miss. We were exploring near the banks of a river in the Kimberley (i.e. salt water croc country...) and managed to get bogged in the muddy flood plane at night time. Of course it happens as the tide is rising. Quickly. The nearest tree was >50m away far off to one side and was the diameter of a broomstick. Out of desperation, we managed to Macgyver together a series of straps and looped it around the tree and then to the end of the winch. After much winching without success, and the tree bending to a point that it almost snapped, we managed to finally winch ourselves sideways through the mud to somewhere we could get traction and drive away to safety.
That time we forgot the alcohol... LOL ... nah we would never do that...
Sometimes the bad times are the good times, these are stories we will be laughing about long into the future and to be honest we remember the trips where there are a few funny mishaps far more than the ones when everything goes to plan.
The Ladies